The Eseries with front facing QWERTY was always one of my favorite form factors that I found extremely useful and functional. Nokia provided some optimal calendar and messaging experiences with the Eseries and they were all built like tanks. The Nokia E6 has that same wonderful form factor with the addition of a touchscreen and Symbian Anna OS. Here are some other key specifications that look to make this the best front facing Eseries device ever:

Quad-band GSM and penta-band 3G (Thank you Nokia!)

Symbian Anna OS

8GB internal memory and microSD card slot for up to 32GB more

8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and 720p video capture

Front facing VGA camera

2.46 inch 640×480 pixels touchscreen display (That’s 326 ppi which is the same as the iPhone 4 retina display.)

Dedicated graphics processor with OpenGL 2.0 support

BP-4L 1500 mAh battery

A-GPS

WiFi (802.11 b/g/n)

Bluetooth 3.0

FM radio with RDS

USB on-the-to support

3.5mm headset jack with TV-out support

Both microUSB and 2mm charging ports

My only real complaint with the last front facing QWERTY Eseries I tested, the Nokia E73 Mode, was the lower resolution display and this E6 fixes that with specs that sound fantastic for such a small display.

I went ahead and purchased one from Star Telecom Mobile on eBay since the tax alone for me to buy from Amazon was nearly $50 over the purchase price and they have the E6 available NOW! Stay tuned for E6 coverage here on Nokia Experts since the E6 should arrive next week.

I was chatting with Dieter and told him I was quite pleased with the short time I spent with the Nokia Astound and that I was thinking of picking one up for the site. He gave me the thumbs up and was going to get one for me to use, but I decided to just visit a local store to see what I could work out with the expectation I would pay the full $299.99 (before 9.5% tax) no contract price. I went to my local T-Mobile store in Federal Way and was shocked by what happened next.

I went into the store and there were six employees standing around with only one other customer being helped. Richard asked me kindly what I would like and I told him I wanted to buy a Nokia Astound off contract. He told me they had them in stock and he would see what he could do for me. He said he thought he could work out something in the system because there were some special offers on accessories. After logging into the system and trying some different things, he worked out a deal where he was able to give me the following gear and still cut my total price out the door to $255.08 that included the 9.5% sales tax.

Nokia Astound (shown as only $99.99 on the receipt)

Jabra Stone 2 Bluetooth headset ($129.99 down to $90.99)

MicroUSB car charger ($29.99 down to $20.99)

Nokia Astound 2-pack screen protector ($14.99 down to $10.49)

Nokia Astound black gel skin case ($14.99 down to $10.49)

I was amazed by what he was able to get for me while still saving me just over $73. My account stayed the same, my excellent family plan remained untouched, and I ended up saving money and walking out with some great accessories. If my head wasn’t lost in the clouds as he was handing me all this gear I would have asked for a 32GB microSD card instead of the Bluetooth headset since I need those more than headsets.

If you are considering the Nokia Astound, you may want to visit your local store and see if they have any special offers for you as well. Richard mentioned that the future AT&T purchase had something to do with his ability to offer me all of these accessories and knock a couple hundred off of the phone price too.

I put my SIM card into my new Nokia Astound and plan to use it as my primary device for a while and create a Guide page for the site. I already like that I can use Swype in portrait orientation and the email client is MUCH better!

I just saw the official T-Mobile Twitter account post that they have several phones available for the next six hours for FREE with new account or eligible upgrade. Visit this page to see the deals that include the Nokia Astound. I would love to pick up one of these, but I already have five lines on T-Mobile and none are currently eligible for an upgrade.

I wish that carriers would offer some kind of discount to existing customers who are still within their contract because that would give us incentive to continue signing up for future contracts knowing we could get the latest and greatest phones rather than having to wait every two years for any kind of discount.

Are you looking for a fantastic last minute gift? I just read over on PhoneArena.com that you can get a Nokia N8 on the Nokia USA store for just $399 after the sale and special coupon code. You can see the regular holiday sale price is $449 (down from $549) and then PhoneArena.com stated you can use the coupon code noknow2010 to knock another $50 off the price. $399 is a great deal for the super powerful Nokia N8 and if you were on the fence about picking one up this looks like the time to do it. Shoot, I am even thinking about it for one of my other daughters who is looking for a new device.

I am a big fan of Angry Birds and have been enjoying the Seasons edition on my new Samsung Galaxy Tab. I was pleased to see this version finally come to the Nokia Ovi Store, priced at $1.99. The Angry Birds Season edition is setup like an advent calendar so you can only play the levels up to the day of the month. Thus, Nokia players will now have to play days 1-18 to catch up to the Android and iOS world. I wish there was a way to sync your progress across multiple platforms and I imagine this is something that the folks at Rovio are working on for gadget geeks like myself.

The download is just over 8MB so keep that in mind if you are in a data restricted area with your phone. I installed it on my orange N8 and started playing just a short while ago. The cool thing about this Seasons edition is that it also includes the Halloween edition of the game that I played on my iPad, but did not yet have on my N8.

I have talked before about using JoikuSpot on both my S60 and Maemo devices and it is one of the first apps I recommend you install on your devices. JoikuSpot turns your Nokia device into a WiFi hotspot and while there is a free Lite version, the full Premium version has no closed ports or other limitations. I received an email this morning that you can buy the Premium version for only EUR5 ($6.80) today and tomorrow.

Android 2.2 has this capability integrated into the device and I sure wish Nokia would also do this with the Symbian and MeeGo platforms moving forward. Unlike carrier locked devices though, at least you can easily add this with an inexpensive and effective application.

I went to the Nokia USA to pre-order my Nokia N8 and saw you can now do so for $549. I may eventually place this order just to ensure I get one to write about here, but I really want an orange or green or blue model with the orange being my first choice. Thus, I may try to find one from outside the US since they all have penta-band 3G support and should be the same around the world. It may cost me a bit more, but $549 for a SIM-unlocked powerful device like this is very reasonable. For comparison, the iPhone 4 is priced at $599 for 16GB and $699 for 32GB with no support for T-Mobile 3G.

I hope Amazon kicks off their N8 pre-orders soon too since I have some gift card cash sitting there waiting to be spent on a device. Any readers going to pre-order this dark grey model?

UPDATE: I placed my order ($611 with tax and shipping) and can’t wait for it to arrive. I will be getting some hands-on time with it at Nokia World in September so stay tuned for that coverage too.

I know I am ruining my own chances at a fantastic offer, but wanted to let you all know about the cool Nokia Newegg.com promotion where you have the chance to pick up a Nokia N900 or E72 for just $1. There are special Newgg.com-Nokia banner ads with a yellow egg and the two devices, found on a couple of sites mentioned on the WOMWorld site, and when that egg flashes if you are the first to click through then you can get this deal. This is for North American Nokia fans only.

Feel free to click the egg above when it is flashing and if you do happen to stumble upon this over the next month please let us know. I understand there will be 20 such offers over the next month so some people are going to get a fantastic deal on one of these devices.

T-Mobile USA is the first carrier in the US to start to model their available plans after the European market and this makes sense given that they have global owners. With T-Mobile you can choose Even More (fairly standard) or Even More Plus (no annual contract and lower monthly rates) plans. The T-Mobile Nokia E73 Mode will be priced at $69.99 with a compatible Even More plan. Today, we learned that the full, unsubsidized price with the Even More Plus plan will be $299.99 or payable as $15/month over 20 months. I was hoping it would be priced like the Nuron with the same subsidized price, but understand the E73 Mode offers much more value and device than the Nuron so the higher price makes a little sense. However, as a reader points out, over 4x the subsidized price is a bit out of hand. About 3x the price ($199.99) seems to be a much more reasonable cost.

Now before you go away shaking your head at the $300 price of the E73 Mode that is modeled after a one year old device (the E72), let’s take a look at the full unsubsidized price of some other popular smartphones for a fair comparison:

T-Mobile HTC HD2: $449.99

T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9700: $449.99

T-Mobile myTouch 3G Slide: $429.99

iPhone 3GS (16GB): $599

iPhone 3GS (32GB): $699

Sprint HTC EVO 4G: $449.99

Verizon Motorola DROID: $559.99

Verizon BB Storm2: $539.99

Verizon HTC DROID Incredible: $529.99

As you can see the full, unsubsidized price of $299.99 for the Nokia E73 Mode may actually be a good price when you compare apples to apples. Then again, let’s take a look at some of the unsubsidized and SIM unlocked prices of Nokia smartphones available through Nokia USA that can even be found cheaper on Amazon and Newegg at times. All of the ones listed above are available at those prices with no contract, but the phones are still LOCKED to their respective carriers. When you buy a Nokia smartphone outside of a carrier you can use it on AT&T or T-Mobile or anywhere in the world with a SIM card and supported network.

Nokia N900: $479

Nokia X6 16GB: $349

Nokia N97 mini: $479

Nokia E73: $379

Nokia 5800 XM: $259.99

Nokia E71: $250 (on Amazon)

As I said, when you compare prices the Nokia devices are a great deal. Then again, people in the US rarely pay the full, unsubsidized price and we expect to pay the low subsidized price. In the case of the Nokia E73 Mode that is again only $69.99, which is a major STEAL IMHO.

I have a Nokia E72 evaluation unit on the way that should be here today or Monday so stay tuned for my upcoming experiences and a review. In the meantime, Brad sent in a deal alert that I wanted to pass along to all of you that you can use for the E72. I also think you can use this Dell coupon code for any Nokia smartphone they have at Dell as well. Here is what Brad passed along:

Hi Matt! It’s Brad, the winner of your launch contest last year. I know you don’t post “deals” as much as you used to, but this one was too good to not pass on to you. I noticed that Newegg and a few placed had the E72 for $367 – $379. That’s pretty good, especially compared to Amazon.com.

But, ending today, if you use the code HJZT256$XXP$TH at Dell.com, you save an extra 10%. I know you’ve had luck with Dell in the past correct? That 10% is good for all cellphones and some other items. That brings the E72 down to $341.99.

I used to buy lots of phones through Dell because they had good return and warranty policies. It has been a while since I have purchased anything there, but 10% off a decent price looks like a good deal.